Ross v. State

Eric Ross entered a no contest plea to 2006 and 2007 possession of cocaine charges filed in three lower court case numbers. He then sought the imposition of an alternative sentence pursuant to section 948.20, Florida Statutes (2007), 1 authorizing the trial court to withhold the imposition of sentence and to place the defendant on “drug offender probation” if the defendant is “a chronic substance abuser whose criminal conduct is a violation of s. 893.13(2)(a) or (6)(a).” The State insisted Ross’s multiple prior, non-drug felony convictions precluded the imposition of sentence under section…